Filner's first 100 days: Change, feuds

New mayor has ruffled feathers challenging status quo

San Diego  The day after he was elected San Diego’s 35th mayor, Bob Filner said the people who voted for him didn’t want the status quo.

“They elected an administration that’s going to change things,” Filner said Nov. 7.

On that count — without a doubt — Filner has delivered.

The Democratic mayor’s first 100 days in office have marked a new era at City Hall that has seen Filner challenge how city business is conducted, feud publicly with his fellow elected officials and, most notably, battle with hoteliers over tourism marketing revenue.

“Over the last two decades, San Diego has not done a good job in keeping all of our neighborhoods thriving like downtown San Diego,” Filner said Tuesday in a statement. “It’s because some of our elected officials lost sight or were blinded by special interests or had tendencies toward complacent governing. … I’m here to change that.”

Filner’s supporters — labor leaders, environmentalists and neighborhood activists — have cheered his most every move saying it’s a welcome change that a politician is willing to take on San Diego’s business establishment and other powerful interests.

Filner’s detractors — mainly from the business community and Republican circles — say the mayor is hurting the local economy over the tourism issue and that City Hall is more partisan than ever under his watch.

To be sure, 100 days in office is an arbitrary point to review any politician’s achievements, but it has often been used as a measuring stick.

Filner’s predecessor, Jerry Sanders, had little to show for his efforts at that point in his tenure although he had introduced proposed ballot measures to put certain services up for competitive bid and require voter approval for any increase in employee pension benefits, both of which won voter approval in November 2006.

While Filner understandably remains far from fulfilling the promises he made during last year’s campaign, he has made notable progress in several areas in his first few months. Here’s where his promises stand at 100 days:

Financial stewardship

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What he said: Even though Filner opposed an overhaul of the pension system approved by voters last June, he said he would implement one of its key provisions — a five-year freeze on the pensionable pay of current city workers. He also tempered expectations once in office by noting the city faced an estimated $40 million deficit in its $1.1 billion operating budget.

What he’s done: City finances have improved since then with a $5.5 million surplus for the current year although the future deficit persists. He’s proposed spending part of that money on public safety and homeless issues even though the independent budget analyst has said the prudent route would be to save that cash to help with the looming deficit.

What’s next: Filner is currently in negotiations with the city’s six labor groups on new pacts set to begin July 1. Getting agreement among city and union leaders on the parameters of a five-year deal — Filner’s goal — won’t be easy. How that is resolved will play a large role in how Filner shapes the annual budget proposal he is required to release by April 15.